The United Nations said Monday it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer from Bulgaria and wounding five other employees, reports AP.
The world body will temporarily remove about a third of its approximately 100 international staffers working in Gaza, U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
He pointed to the increased danger after Israel relaunched its military campaign last week with bombardment that has since killed hundreds of Palestinians. Israel has also cut off all food, medicine, aid and other supplies to Gaza’s population for the past three weeks.
Dujarric’s statement was the U.N’s first to point the finger at Israel in the March 19 explosion at the U.N. guesthouse in central Gaza. He said that “based on the information currently available,” the strikes on the site “were caused by an Israeli tank.”
The Israeli military repeated its denial that it was responsible for the strike, which took place a day after Israel shattered Gaza’s 2-month-old ceasefire with a surprise bombardment across the Gaza Strip.
Dujarric said the U.N. “has made taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.”
He said the U.N. “is not leaving Gaza,” pointing out that it still has about 13,000 national staff in Gaza, mainly working for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
